Home >> Art in Need >> What can I help restore now? >> Nelli’s Saint Dominic Receives the Rosary >> What Saint Domenic’s lunettes says about Nelli

Conservator Rossella Lari views Nelli's Saint Dominic under the microscope

AWA’s first point of reference is always the conservator. Rossella Lari worked with the National Institute of Applied Optics to conduct diagnostic studies on Nelli’s lunette. A damaged painting is much like a patient in search of medical attention and a proper diagnosis is key. Here’s Rossella’s own words about the painting and its secrets: "Thanks to an infrared test, we were able to better understand the genius of these works which are a result of preparatory drawings in charcoal with dry point, which were probably traced from a cartoon. The reflectology revealed that certain changes had been made directly in paint during the work’s creation which demonstrates how Nelli constantly tried to achieve an increasingly precise definition of the figure, as the various pictorial phases moved forward and the applied color set in. This most recent restoration process focused on thinning the varnish and completely removing any re-touching so as to reveal the panel’s original paint and its real dimensions. We discovered that the shape of the lunette had been modified several times in order to allow the work to be exhibited in different locations."

Quote from: Orate Pro Pictora, Pray for the Paintress (The Florentine Press, 2009)